External assets held by Japan as of the end of 2017 topped 1 quadrillion yen for the first time, a Finance Ministry report showed Friday.
The overseas assets -- held by Japanese companies, individuals and government such as through investments -- hit a new record high of 1,012.431 trillion yen, up 2.7 percent from a year earlier. This is attributable to brisk overseas mergers and acquisitions by Japanese companies.
The nation's net external assets -- the balance of external assets owned by Japan after deducting external debt, which is the amount of assets held by foreign companies, individuals and governments in Japan -- fell 2.3 percent to 328.447 trillion yen, marking the third straight year of decline. The figure is the fourth highest on record. This is because external debt rose 5.2 percent to 683.984 trillion yen, backed by an increase in Japanese stocks held by foreign companies as a result of rising stock prices since last autumn.
By country, Japan topped the list of net external assets for the 27th straight year, followed by Germany with 261 trillion yen and China with 204 trillion yen. Net foreign assets held by the United States, which has a large amount of external debt, totaled minus 885 trillion yen.
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